Kobe Bean Bryant ( ; August 23, 1978 – January 26, 2020) was an American professional basketball player. A shooting guard, he spent his entire 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Bryant won five NBA championships and was an 18-time All-Star, four-time All-Star MVP, 15-time member of the All-NBA Team, 12-time member of the All-Defensive Team, the 2008 NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP), two-time NBA Finals MVP, and two-time scoring champion. He ranks fourth in league all-time regular season and postseason scoring. Bryant was posthumously named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team in 2021 and was a two-time inductee to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, for his playing career in 2020 and as a member of the 2008 U.S. Olympic team in 2025.
The son of NBA player Joe Bryant, Bryant was born in Philadelphia and lived in Italy during part of his childhood. He was recognized as the top American high school basketball player during his senior season at Lower Merion High School outside of Philadelphia. He declared for the 1996 NBA draft and was selected by the Charlotte Hornets with the 13th pick; he was then traded to the Lakers. Following his rookie season, Bryant earned NBA All-Rookie Second Team honors and won the 1997 Slam Dunk Contest. He was named an All-Star in his second season. He had a feud with teammate Shaquille O'Neal that was well-documented. Nevertheless, the pair led the Lakers to three consecutive NBA championships from 2000 to 2002. In 2003, Bryant was charged with sexual assault; the criminal charges were ultimately dismissed. In a related lawsuit, he settled and issued an apology while maintaining that the encounter was consensual.
After the Lakers lost the 2004 NBA Finals, O'Neal was traded and Bryant became the franchise's cornerstone. He led the NBA in scoring in the 2005–06 and 2006–07 seasons. On January 22, 2006, Bryant scored a career-high 81 points, the third most in an NBA game. He led the Lakers to championships in 2009 and 2010, and was named NBA Finals MVP both times. He continued among the league's premier players through the 2012–13 season until he suffered a torn achilles tendon. His remaining playing career was hampered by injuries and reduced playing time. He retired after the 2015–16 season. In 2017, the Lakers retired both his jersey numbers: 8 and 24, making him the only NBA player to have multiple numbers retired by one franchise.
The Lakers' all-time leading scorer, Bryant was the NBA's first guard to play 20 seasons. His 18 All-Star designations are the third most ever, and his four NBA All-Star Game MVP Awards tied Bob Pettit's record. Bryant took the nickname Black Mamba in the mid-2000s, which became widely adopted by the public. He won gold medals on the 2008 and 2012 U.S. Olympic teams. In 2018, Bryant won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film for Dear Basketball (2017),
In January 2020, Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna were among nine people killed in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California. Tributes and memorials followed his death, including murals throughout Los Angeles, Kobe Bryant Day (8/24), and two statues outside Crypto.com Arena. The NBA All-Star Game MVP was also renamed in Bryant's honor.
Early life
Kobe Bean Bryant was born on August 23, 1978, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His mother, Pam Bryant ( Cox), is the sister of basketball player Chubby Cox, and his father, Joe Bryant, played eight seasons in the NBA. He had two older sisters: Sharia and Shaya. He was close with them. His father named him after the Kobe beef from Japan, which he saw on a restaurant menu, whereas his middle name, Bean, was derived from his father's nickname "Jellybean". and the Lakers were his favorite team when he was growing up. He was also a baseball fan and revealed that he grew up a fan of the New York Mets, wanting to be like Darryl Strawberry. He was a lifelong fan of his hometown NFL team, the Philadelphia Eagles.
Years in Italy
When Bryant was six, his father retired from the NBA and moved his family to Rieti, Italy to play professional basketball. Bryant began to play basketball seriously while living in Reggio Emilia. His grandfather mailed him videos of NBA games for him to study. He watched European films about sports, from which Bryant learned more about basketball. From 1987 to 1989, his father played for Olimpia Basket Pistoia where he paired with former Detroit Pistons player Leon Douglas. He worked at the games as a ball and mop boy and practiced shooting at halftime. Douglas recalled, "At every one of our games at halftime, it was the Kobe show. He'd get out there and get his shot up. We'd come out of the locker room at halftime and have to chase him off the court". During summers, he returned to the United States to play in a basketball summer league. He also played soccer in Italy, and his favorite soccer team was A.C. Milan. Bryant was multilingual. He was fluent in English, Italian, and Spanish.
High school
thumb|Bryant's retired 33 jersey and banner at the [[Lower Merion High School gym in Ardmore, Pennsylvania]]When he was 13, Bryant and his family moved back to Philadelphia, where he enrolled in the eighth grade at Bala Cynwyd Middle School and then Lower Merion High School in Ardmore, Pennsylvania. He earned national recognition for his play at Lower Merion. He played on the varsity team as a freshman, but the team finished with a 4–20 record. The following three years, Lower Merion compiled a 77–13 record, with Bryant playing all five positions. and was named Pennsylvania Player of the Year, achieving a fourth-team Parade All-American nomination. He considered playing collegiate basketball at Duke, Michigan, North Carolina and Villanova. However, after high schooler Kevin Garnett went in the first round of the 1995 NBA draft, he considered going directly to the pros. but he did not officially visit campuses. while playing alongside future NBA teammate Lamar Odom. While in high school, then 76ers coach John Lucas invited Bryant to work out and scrimmage with the team, where he played one-on-one with Jerry Stackhouse.
As a senior, Bryant led Lower Merion to their first state championship in 53 years. During his senior year, he averaged 30.8 points, 12 rebounds, 6.5 assists, 4 steals, and 3.8 blocked shots in leading the school to a 31–3 record. He finished his high-school career as Southeastern Pennsylvania's all-time leading scorer at 2,883 points, surpassing both Wilt Chamberlain and Lionel Simmons. As a senior, he was named Naismith High School Player of the Year, Gatorade Men's National Basketball Player of the Year, a McDonald's All-American, a first-team Parade All-American and a USA Today All-USA First Team player. His coach, Greg Downer, commented that he was "a complete player who dominates" and praised his work ethic. He was later honored as one of the 35 Greatest McDonald's All-Americans for his high school play.
Los Angeles Lakers (1996–2016)
Bryant decided to forgo college basketball and enter the NBA draft lottery, the sixth player to do so.
The day before the draft, the Charlotte Hornets agreed to trade their 13 pick to the Lakers in exchange for Vlade Divac. Before the agreement, the Hornets had never considered drafting Bryant. During the draft, the Lakers told the Hornets to select Bryant minutes before the pick was made. Bryant was the first guard drafted out of high school. After the draft, the trade was put in jeopardy when Divac threatened to retire rather than be traded from LA. However, Divac relented and the trade was finalized on July 9, when the league's off-season moratorium ended. Since Bryant was a minor, his parents had to co-sign his $3.5 million three-year rookie contract.
Bryant debuted in the Summer Pro League in Long Beach, California, scoring 25 points before a standing-room-only crowd. Defenders struggled to get in front of him. Bryant scored 36 points in the finale and finished with averages of 24.5 points and 5.3 rebounds.
Early years (1996–1999)
As a rookie in 1996–97, Bryant mostly came off the bench behind guards Eddie Jones and Nick Van Exel. He was the second-youngest player ever to play in an NBA game (18 years, 72 days) and became the youngest NBA starter (18 years, 158 days). Bryant played limited minutes, but as the season continued, his playing time grew. He averaged 15.5 minutes of playing time. During the All-Star weekend, he participated in the Rookie Challenge and won the 1997 Slam Dunk Contest, the youngest dunk champion at age 18. The Lakers advanced to the Western Conference semifinals in the 1997 NBA playoffs against the Utah Jazz. Bryant was pressed into a lead role at the end of Game 5. Byron Scott missed the game with a sprained wrist, Robert Horry was ejected for fighting with Jeff Hornacek, and O'Neal fouled out with 1:46 remaining. He missed a game-winning shot in the fourth quarter, then misfired three three-point field goals in overtime, including two tying shots in the final minute. O'Neal commented that "[Bryant] was the only guy who had the guts at the time to take shots like that." His rookie campaign earned him a spot on the NBA All-Rookie Second Team.
In his second season, he received more playing time. His scoring averages more than doubled, from 7.6 to 15.4. Playing time increased when the Lakers "played small", which positioned Bryant as a small forward alongside the guards he usually played behind. Bryant was runner-up for the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year Award, and through fan voting, became the NBA's youngest All-Star starter. Bryant was joined by teammates O'Neal, Van Exel, and Jones, making it the first time since 1983 that four players on one team were selected to play in an All-Star Game. Bryant's 15.4 points per game was the highest of any non-starter in the season.
The 1998–99 season marked Bryant's emergence as a premier guard. He started every game for the lockout-shortened 50-game season. He signed a six-year $70 million contract extension, The Lakers made the playoffs, where they were swept by the eventual champion San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference Semifinals.
Three-peat (1999–2002)
thumb|upright=.8|Bryant in December 1999
Bryant's play improved when Phil Jackson was hired in 1999. Jackson applied his triangle offense that he had developed for the Chicago Bulls.
Bryant was sidelined for six weeks prior to the start of the 1999–2000 season due to a preseason hand injury. When he returned, he played over 38 minutes a game and improved in all statistical categories. This included leading the team in assists and steals per game. O'Neal and Bryant, backed with a strong bench, led the Lakers to win 67 games. For his season, Bryant was named to the All-NBA Second Team and All-NBA Defensive Team for the first time (the youngest to receive All-Defensive honors). In the 2000 NBA playoffs, he had some stellar performances, including a 25-point, 11-rebound, seven-assist, four-block in Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals against the Portland Trail Blazers. He threw an alley-oop to O'Neal to clinch the game and a trip to the Finals.
In the 2000 Finals, against the Indiana Pacers, Bryant injured his ankle in Game 2 after landing on Jalen Rose's foot. Rose admitted he placed his foot under Bryant intentionally. Bryant did not return, and missed Game 3. In Game 4, Bryant scored 22 in the second half and led the team to victory as O'Neal fouled out. Bryant scored the winner to put the Lakers ahead 120–118. With a 116–111 victory in Game 6, the Lakers won their first championship since the 1988 NBA Finals.
In the 2000–01 season, he increased his points per game to 28.5. The Shaq–Kobe feud surfaced. Bryant led the team in assists, with five per game. However, the Lakers only won 56 games, an 11-game drop from the previous year. The team responded by going 15–1 in the playoffs. They swept the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round, and the Sacramento Kings in the conference semifinals. In Game 4 against the Kings, Bryant notched 48 points, 16 rebounds, and three assists in a 119–113 series-clinching victory. They swept the San Antonio Spurs in the Conference Finals, before losing their first game against Allen Iverson and the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2001 NBA Finals. The Lakers won the next four and their second championship. He played heavy minutes lifting his game stats to 29.4 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 6.1 assists. O'Neal declared Bryant the best player in the league. He averaged 25.2 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 5.5 assists. He had a career-high 46.9% shooting percentage and led his team in assists. He claimed his first All-Star MVP trophy after a 31-point performance in Philadelphia, where he was booed by fans throughout the game, stemming from his comment to a 76ers heckler during the Finals that the Lakers were "going to cut your hearts out." The Lakers won 58 games that year and finished second in the Pacific Division behind the Sacramento Kings. Bryant was suspended for one game after he punched Reggie Miller of the Indiana Pacers. He was named to the All-NBA First Team for the first time.
The road to the 2002 NBA Finals was much tougher. While they swept the Blazers and defeated the Spurs 4–1 in the first two rounds, the Lakers did not have home-court advantage against the Kings. The series stretched to seven games, the first time for the Lakers since the 2000 Western Conference Finals. However, the Lakers dominated and made their third consecutive NBA Finals, in which Bryant averaged 26.8 points, 51.4% shooting, 5.8 rebounds, 5.3 assists, scoring a quarter of the team's points. The Lakers swept the New Jersey Nets in the Finals. Bryant became the youngest player, at age 23, to win three championships.
Title defenses and struggles (2002–2005)
thumb|upright|Bryant during the 2005 preseason
Bryant had one of his best individual seasons during the 2002–03 season. He broke an NBA record for three-pointers on January 7, 2003, when he made 12 against the Seattle SuperSonics. He averaged 30 points and embarked on a historic run, posting 40 or more points in nine consecutive games while averaging 40.6 in February. He also averaged career-high 6.9 rebounds, 5.9 assists, and 2.2 steals. In 2003, he was arrested for sexual assault ahead of the 2003–04 season. This caused him to miss some games due to court appearances.
The 2003–04 NBA season brought the Lakers back to the Finals, but tension within the team was exposed. In the final game of the regular season, Bryant made two buzzer-beaters to win the game and the Pacific Division title. The Lakers advanced to the 2004 NBA Finals, where they lost to the Detroit Pistons in five games. Bryant averaged 22.6 points and 4.4 assists while shooting 35.1%. Jackson's contract as coach was not renewed, and Rudy Tomjanovich took over. O'Neal was traded to the Miami Heat for Lamar Odom, Caron Butler, and Brian Grant. Bryant signed a seven-year, $136.4 million contract.
Bryant was closely scrutinized during the 2004–05 season. His reputation had been damaged from the prior year's events. A particularly damaging salvo came when Jackson wrote The Last Season: A Team in Search of Its Soul where he wrote that Bryant was "un-coachable". Midway through the season, Tomjanovich resigned and Frank Hamblen took over. Bryant was the league's second-leading scorer at 27.6 points. The Lakers went 34–48 and missed the playoffs for the first time in a decade. Bryant did not make the NBA All-Defensive Team and made only the All-NBA Third Team. Bryant engaged in public feuds with Karl Malone and Ray Allen.
Scoring records (2005–2007)
thumb|upright=.8|Bryant dunking against the [[Golden State Warriors during a preseason game in Honolulu, Hawaii, in October 2005]]
Despite their differences, Jackson returned to coach the Lakers. Bryant endorsed the move, and they worked well together and the Lakers returned to the 2006 NBA playoffs. Bryant forged his finest statistical season and set numerous records. On December 20, 2005, Bryant scored 62 points in three quarters against the Dallas Mavericks. Entering the fourth quarter, he had outscored the Mavericks team 62–61, the only time a player had done this through three quarters since the introduction of the shot clock. Bryant and O'Neal were friendly during the season and showed a pause in their feud.
On January 22, 2006, Bryant scored a career-high 81 points in a 122–104 victory over the Toronto Raptors. In addition to breaking the Elgin Baylor franchise record of 71, Bryant's feat was the second-best in NBA history, behind only Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point game. He also became the first player since 1964 to score 45 points or more in four consecutive games, joining Chamberlain and Baylor. For January, he averaged 43.4 points per game, the eighth highest for a single month, behind only Chamberlain.
After the 2005–06 season, he set single-season franchise records for most 40-point games (27) and most points scored (2,832). He won the scoring title for the first time, averaging 35.4, the fifth player to average 35+ in a season. Bryant finished fourth in the voting for the 2006 MVP Award but received 22 first place votes—second only to winner Steve Nash. In the first playoff round, the Lakers reached a 3–1 lead over the Phoenix Suns, culminating with his overtime-forcing and game-winning shots in Game 4. Despite Bryant's 27.9 points per game, the Lakers fell to the Suns in seven games. After scoring 50 points on 20 of 35 shooting in a Game 6 loss, he was criticized for taking only three shots in the second half of the 121–90 Game 7.
Bryant changed his jersey number from 8 to 24 at the start of the 2006–07 season to match his first high-school number. Bryant said he had wanted 24 as a rookie, but it was George McCloud's. Bryant wore 143 at the Adidas ABCD camp and chose 8 by adding those digits. In March 2007, Bryant scored a season-high 65 points against the Blazers, ending a seven-game losing streak, his second-best scoring performance. The following game, he recorded 50 points against the Timberwolves, after which he scored 60 points in a road win against the Memphis Grizzlies—becoming the second Laker to score three straight 50-plus point games, a feat not seen since Jordan in 1987. The only other Laker to do so was Baylor. He finished the year with a total of 10 50-plus point games, surpassed only by Chamberlain. Bryant was the leading vote-getter for the 2016 All-Star Game with 1.9 million votes, beating Stephen Curry's 1.6 million. After moving to small forward that season, Bryant was a frontcourt starter for the first time. West teammates offered to feed him the ball in an attempt to get him another All-Star MVP, but Bryant declined.
The Lakers beat the Jazz 101–96 in his final game. Bryant scored an NBA season-high 60 points on 50 shots—the most shots in the prior 30 seasons—and outscoring the Jazz by himself 23–21 in the fourth quarter. He also set the record for the most points in a final regular season game. He was the first player his age to score 60+ at 37 years and 234 days. The Lakers finished the season at 17–65, the worst in Lakers' history. After the game, he gave a speech to the Staples Center crowd.